14And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

   15And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

   16And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

   17And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.

   18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

   19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

   20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. Genesis 14 : 14 - 20

From Genesis  3, we learn how the serpent caused Adam and Eve to disobey God's command prompting God to curse all three of them. If we turn our focus to God's pronouncement on the serpent for a minute we will pick out something very key from verse 15;

14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

   15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

God spoke about the woman's seed bruising the head of the serpent. Who was this seed? This seed held the key to the redemption of mankind from the clutches of the serpent. We certainly now know that this seed is Christ. From the moment God made the pronouncement, He intended to leave clues as to the identity of this seed. And from Genesis 3 we get the first clue – the seed was going to be born of a woman.

Over  time , in Genesis 12 God calls Abram and establishes a covenant with him. And in Genesis 22: 18 God gives a second clue as to who the seed of the woman was going to be – a descendant of Abraham!

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Paul further attests to this seed being Christ in Galatians 3: 16

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

However, before Genesis 22, a very important event occurred in chapter 14 – Abraham met Melchizedek! And this brings us back to the question, who was Melchizedek?

From the book of Hebrews 7, we understand that the name Melchizedek means King of righteousness and he was the king of Salem with Salem meaning peace. He was both a king and a priest, same two offices of Jesus. Furthermore, we understand that Melchizedek was not made a priest by the law and we also were not told in scripture if he was made a priest because of his genealogy. Hence it says in Hebrews 7: 3 that he was without father and mother and without descent.

He obviously was a great man but not the pre-incarnate Christ as some would say but a type and shadow of the seed of the woman to come. When Abraham  gave tithes to Melchizedek, he was fulfilling God's mandate by paving the way for Christ's reign as king and priest!

How is that you might ask? The answer lies in the book of Hebrews. Here, the writer was addressing some Jewish Christians  who found it difficult to understand the priesthood of Jesus since He was not a descendant of Levi.

The Jews understood from the Law that only descendants of Levi where allowed to minister as priests and thus receive tithes from the remaining eleven tribes. Furthermore, they understood that only descendants of Aaron could serve as high priests; Jesus was neither. When Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, it was God's way of saying that there was going to arise a high priest who was going to have a perpetual priesthood not according to the law. Hebrews 7 further explains that even the levitical priesthood submitted to the priesthood of Melchizedek through the tithes that Abraham paid. They more or less paid their tithes through Abraham their ancestor.

The writer of Hebrews goes further to explain that the priesthood of the law was inferior to the priesthood in the order of Melchizedek  because it's priests die and have to be replaced. He also showed from scripture that there was a precedent for a non levite to become a high priest and receive tithes through Abraham's encounter with Melchizedek.

The tithes Abraham paid to Melchizedek was not done as proof that tithing had existed before the law and thus still relevant to today's church instead it was done as part of God's plan for the redemption of mankind. It was the biggest clue as to how the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. The seed was going to be a priest who was not selected by man or made so by the law but a priest specially selected by God to continue as one forever. One who would intercede continually on behalf of God's heirs of salvation in the holy of holies which is heaven.

14For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

   15And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,

   16Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

   17For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Hebrews 7: 14 - 17

(Image of high priest courtesy of courses.cit.cornell.edu )